The Hero I Know
by lupepiccolo
Summary: Link and Anfe have been friends since childhood in their small village of Orrin. Then Link received his summons to serve the kingdom of Hyrule. Non-canon. I've been playing Twilight Princess and always wanted to write a relationship for Link that wasn't with the Princess. I promise, it's not a Mary-Sue . . .
1. Chapter 1

Tonight wasn't the first time I noticed the way the golden glow of sunset rimmed his golden hair in a soft aura. I had seen it a hundred times before, if not more. Yet this evening seemed like the most important time of all, because it would be the last evening for a while that I would see him. He was unusually distant tonight, as he had been all day, saying goodbye to friends that had become like his own family. I doubted he noticed the way I watched him as he stared off into space, eyes narrowed slightly as if trying to focus on something beyond his own sight, lost in his world of thought.

We had known this day would come for many years now. I wasn't born yet when his mother left him here in Orrin, but my own mother had told me the story: she was a wild woman, beautiful beyond belief, passing through Orrin by chance, clutching a babe to her chest. Her eyes were wide with fright, mother had remembered, as if she were fleeing some unknown terror, or perhaps desperately seeking something. Whatever the case, she had borne this small child just days before, and a voice had spoken to her, pressing her to name the child Link, as he would some day become Hyrule's chosen hero. Perhaps the daunting task of raising such a boy terrified her; perhaps it was the vision. She didn't stay in Orrin long enough for anyone to find out. Brecca and his wife, Ilia, had taken him in, newlyweds themselves, and owners of Orrin Ranch. The wild woman had dumped her child here and was gone the next morning.

I was born shortly afterwards to the wife of a merchant, the only merchant in our small town, peddling to passers-through on their way West to Hyrule or everyday goods to the townspeople.

Link and I grew up together, as at the time, we were the only infants in Orrin: the other children were already much older. Link's "siblings" were born years later. We shared every spare second of free time together, every secret, every hope and fear. As we grew older, we would sit and fish on the dock for hours, talking endlessly. With my fat, clumsy child-fingers, a needle, coarse thread, and soft scrap fabric from an old dress, and the little knowledge my mother had passed to me in the female trade, I sewed a doll for Link - a fairy with pale blue skin and wings, button eyes, and brown hair, like mine.

My hair had grown long on the day of his sixteenth birthday when they pierced his long, pointed ears as a passage into manhood. I remembered him standing tall that day, but only I could detect the flinch in his face when the needle went through. I could read Link like a book.

I had helped him move his few belongings into his tree-cottage that same day; he was a man, of course he could not still live with his mother. Half of the house was built into a tree, and the lower half on the ground, even burrowing below into a cool cellar.

I taught him how to play the horse-grass that grew by the spring and even helped him train Epona, his horse, to come when the grass called to her. I even cut his hair after his own mother had "butchered it" that summer; I knew he liked the pieces before his ears to frame his face just so, and for his forelock to fall just a certain way. I think that was the first day I knew I felt differently about Link; more than just his closest friend. I'm sure I had touched his straw-like hair before - had I? - but that time I felt the rush in my gut - butterflies - and felt my cheeks flush.

Link had always been brave; braver than I in most respects. From the time he was very young and his foster mother sat him down and explained his fate as chosen Hero of Hyrule, he had accepted his fate proudly. Never boastful, never haughty, always humble. To others, he had always been a boy of few words.

But last week, he changed. His entire world changed.


	2. Chapter 2

It still sends a pang through my gut to remember it, the fear in his eyes. I had told him to meet me by the spring at the first morning light, nothing out of the ordinary. I was perched on my rock on the water's edge, watching the sun break over the mountain and hoping he wouldn't sleep in like he tended to, when I heard his pounding footsteps through the forest. That was the first sign: Link had the softest footfall of anyone I had ever met.

"Anfe!" he cried, rushing towards me. He held his left wrist in his hand, thrusting it into my face. "It's happened."

His hand had glowed bright gold with the mark, the mark of the Triforce. My heart sank like a stone.

We had talked about it before, the day he would be summoned to defend Hyrule. His birth was an omen of sorts, that the kingdom would face an unimaginable threat. We had always known that this day would come, but never how, or when, or why. He had spoken of it with an almost world-weary voice, knowing it was his duty to accept, even if it meant he was accepting his own death, though we dared never mention that part.

I had watched his green-blue eyes, unsteady, frightened. Genuinely frightened of a summons he could not ignore, for he alone now could determine the fate of the kingdom. What could I say? Of course I didn't want him to go, but that was beyond either of our control. All I could do was make him strong.

I had touched his hand, taking it tenderly in my own. I was holding his hand. I was holding Link's hand to prepare him for the most terrifying day of his young life. I had coaxed him to sit beside me, both our eyes locked on the golden Triforce that seemed burned into the back of his hand.

"We've both known this day would come." I whispered, his side pressed against mine, shaking. I swallowed the lump that rose in my throat and fought away the silly girly butterflies. Link needed me. "And it's here."

His head rested on my shoulder. I put my free arm around him, leaning my head against his own. His body shook harder, and I could hear - sobbing. Tiny, muffled sobs.

I had never seen Link cry before. Not when his favorite sheep passed at the ranch as a small child, not when he fell from a tree and broke his leg. I held him as tightly as I could. A frightened Link was more upsetting than anything I could imagine. And yet, I had to stay strong for him. He was a chosen Hero.

"I'm frightened, Fee."

"I'm not." I lied, hoping to encourage him. What else was I supposed to say?

He pulled his head back, puzzled, looking back into my eyes. "You . . . you aren't?"

I managed a smile. "No. Because I've seen you fight with a sword." I recalled the hours I had watched him practice swordfighting with his father, and then with the other men who worked at Orrin ranch. Link could bring them all to their knees. "Your aim with bow and arrow is true. You could take a swallow in flight as easily as sleeping livestock."

I brushed away his wet cheeks. I could feel my own hands shaking. I could not allow them to - I steadied myself with a deep breath. I had never seen him this upset before.

"A Chosen Hero - a might warrior doesn't weep like a child upon his summons." he remarked, turning his head away.

"And this shall pass." I whispered as he pulled away from me. He was so brave, I thought as he stood, back towards me. I watched his back heave with the power of his deep breaths, head hung low. Then he threw his head back, whirled around to face me, a stern look sobering his handsome features.

"My time has come." he said lowly, offering me his hand. I took it and stood. "I suppose I have to break the news to my mother."

"She will understand." I replied as we headed toward the village. "She always has."


	3. Chapter 3

That was a week ago. Link has been distant to me ever since that morning. I had watched his parents embrace him, heavy hearts all around. I had watched the entire town embrace him in their love and support, and he had received it all with calm indifference, as if hardening himself to the task he faced.

This had upset me more than anything, I realized as we sat together, our last evening together before he would depart with Epona to Hyrule and meet with the royal family that had summoned him. Link was changing, almost immediately. Link was not a hardened person. He had always been gentle and kind, never indifferent. This journey would change him, I predicted, and I deeply wished against it.

"Anfe."

His deep voice broke me out of my memories, pulled me into the reality of the moment, the two of us beside what was normally our usual evening campfire.

"Yeah?"

He took a deep breath. "Make sure you watch Mila and Roke. Don't let this . . . change them. They might not listen to Father without me around. I know how they are." he instructed. "Make sure Mila still helps Mother around the house, especially with her pregnancy as difficult as it has been. Roke needs to-"

I touched Link's forearm gently, and he cut off. "I know, Link." I answered with a smile. His family had become like my own - how could it not, when so few people lived in this tiny village?

He smiled back, but still a distant smile, as if it was to a funny memory. Locked in his own mind, the way he had spent the past few days.

We spent the next minutes in silence - minutes that felt like hours, yet still flew by too quickly as I knew our time together was short. The small campfire crackled quietly before us, keeping us lit and warm as the sun sank below the distant hills.

"Link." I began quietly, breaking into the silence. He glanced up at me, then back down, with a "hmm" deep in his throat. "I'll miss you."

His eyes closed. I think I watched him, still as stone, for hours. I took him in, really took him in, for what could be the last time for a long time. The way his hair hung just so around his angular face, the way his pointed ears curved backward so elegantly, how his clothes hung around his subtly defined, muscular frame that he had honed through hours of swordfighting.

"I'll miss you, too." he finally whispered, so softly I almost didn't hear it.

I looked away, afraid he would open his eyes and see the biting tears that were forcing their way out. I tucked my lower lip between my teeth, a nervous habit that I needed to abandon, for I feared they would begin to bloody, I had done it subconsciously so often of late.

Suddenly his fingers touched my chin, turning my head towards his. His face was so close to mine, I could feel his breath, and as my lips parted to perhaps question him, he took his chance and took my lower lip between his own.

My whole body exploded. I had never known it was possible to feel this way, this free, this light, this - happy, in such a time of despair. Despair? I didn't know the meaning of the word. Link was kissing me. Link Breccason was kissing me, one hand holding the back of my head, the other touching my shoulder, unsure. He took my lips in his, again and again, for the first time, and again and again, as if he would never kiss again.

As the thought passed through my head, he let go of me, his face the same deep vermilion as the sky, and my heart sank again as I realized that it very well could have been the last time.

No. Link was better than that. He would return to me.

"Link . . ." I managed to breathe, though I felt like my throat had closed up. Surely he had sucked the life out of me in that kiss, for my breath was frozen in my chest. But I still had life - my heart beat so rapidly I feared it would jump out and perhaps join his own.

"I've wanted to do that for almost ten years now." he whispered, brushing a hand through his own hair, and for a second, the old Link was back: smiling, happy, carefree Link.

"My father would kill you." I giggled.

A last smile, then the old Link was gone as the last sunset was sucked behind the hills. His eyes narrowed slightly, his brow furrowed as he knelt before me, head down and to the side. My heart sank farther down into the pit of my stomach.

His hand returned to the back of my head for a second - my heart leapt back to life, knowing he was going to kiss me again - but just to pull my forehead against his lips, his soft lips kissing my soft brown forelock, then pull away as he stood above me.

"Goodbye, Fee."

Then he turned and ran back toward the village, leaving me alone with the campfire.


	4. Chapter 4

He was gone the next morning. He left without saying goodbye - but I suppose that was his intention. Of course I hadn't slept a wink, between my pitiful sorrow and my fleeting rushes of pure joy - Link Breccasson had kissed me!

I spent the next week outside of my body, watching it go through the motions - well, in a different rhythm. Instead of rising and running to Link's small tree-cottage just outside the village, waking him with a sharp whistle on the ground below his bedroom window and watching him poke out his groggy head, shake off sleep, and jump down beside me, I rose on my own, washed my face slowly, tied back my copper hair, and headed into the treeline alone to hunt and help keep my parents' shop stocked with fresh meat. Instead of sharing a lunch of cheese and bread and meat with Link at the front counter, I ate with my mother, who watched my blank stare with concern. Instead of laughing with my best friend, I tried laughing with my mother, but my words were quiet and devoid of humor. I tried, but it just wasn't there.

I had kept it together for a week. Really, I tried; I knew Mila and Roke needed someone to stay strong for them now that Link was gone, and for a full week, I stayed strong for them.

But one morning, I passed by his house as I headed towards the spring to fish. Out of habit, I stopped and whistled below his bedroom window. The door was unlocked, and I passed through without a second thought. On occasion, Link had refused to awaken to my calls, and I would have to shake him awake. When I entered his home, I could tell that he had taken nothing with him. Anything he took from this life ran the risk of being lost, or destroyed, or meeting any number of demises on such a journey. I climbed up the ladder to his bed in the treetops, where his sheets were still rumpled and unmade from the morning he left. Lying on the pillow was a worn, blue doll with a missing button eye and brown hair like mine. It was worn from love. I never knew he had really kept the doll from his childhood, but there it lay, left behind for fear of being lost.

I crawled into the bed that smelled like him, nestled into the soft mattress that still held his form, clutched his love-worn doll to my chest, and cried. I cried for what felt like hours, heaving sobs that racked my entire body and stained his pillow, where golden hairs lingered.

My tears finally stopped flowing. I suppose I ran out. I laid in Link's bed until I saw the sun's light fade from the window and darkness set upon his home. Mother would worry about me when I didn't return. The thought flashed through my mind, but I couldn't will myself to move from the place that smelled so strongly of Link. My eyes were puffy and felt like lead. My head ached from crying. I decided I would just sleep here tonight.

I had just begun to drift off when I heard my father's voice calling from far away.

"Anfe!" he cried, his bellowing voice filling the forest. Why was he calling so loudly? Where else would I be?

"Daddy," I whispered, but my throat was raw, and it cracked, unable to carry.

"Anfe!" he repeated, closer. Of course they knew I was here. If he hadn't guessed it on his own, Mother would have told him exactly where to look.

"Anfe! Can you hear me?" His voice was upon the house now.

The door opened downstairs. "Anfe?" His voice was quieter.

"Daddy." I repeated, just loud enough for me to hear it myself.

"Oh Anfe. We were so worried." I heard him say, as if he expected me to come down. When I didn't, he climbed the ladder himself. I heard him sigh, then felt his strong arms lift me out of the warm bed and into the cool night air. I whimpered.

"Come on, An." he murmured, carrying me out of the house that smelled like Link and back home. "You're mother's been worried sick. But she told me you might be here."

I'm pretty sure I fell back asleep as he carried me back home, the faerie-doll still clutched tightly to my chest.


	5. Chapter 5

Life without Link was dull, but I found ways to cope. I began taking Roke hunting with me when he wasn't helping Brecca at the ranch. I taught Mila how to sew - well, I tried, but she had little patience, so I took her fishing instead. Sort of. I had to bait her hooks and take the fish off of her line, and she never let me keep them - the girl had a bleeding heart - and I always had to throw her fish back. Eventually she started to dislike watching them being caught at all, and she would sit with Mother at the shop when she wasn't helping her own pregnant mother around the house.

Roke made better company, though he reminded me so much of his brother. They shared no blood and therefore looked nothing alike, but his mannerisms and way of speaking showed just how much the boy idolized his older brother. The two had been close, but it was clear that no one had known Link the way I had. Did. I couldn't keep thinking as if he was-

A year passed. Exactly a year. I was on the cusp of my eighteenth birthday, and knew that Link's own eighteenth fall had passed. As his exact birth day was unknown, we had always begun celebrating when the first few cool days came and color was beginning to seep into the trees, which was around the same time his mother had brought him to Orrin. Link was the only child in the village with a Fall birthday. We would choose a day and have a big celebration - just as we did for all the other children (adult birthdays had little festivity), but Link's was always a surprise for him, which made it extra fun. Mother would bake a honey-cake with sweet cream icing, and Johann - the father of another family in Orrin - would play gay tunes on his fiddle, accompanied by my father on the fife.

But there was no such celebration this year. The leaves seemed to slide through their colors more quickly this year in a hurry to reach grey-brown and die. Mother traded her usual supply of fall honey - normally used for the honey-cakes - for a beautiful necklace that was my birthday present. It was a blue-green stone carved into the shape of a star; the same blue-green as Link's eyes. Even the golden links of the chain reminded me of his hair. I loved it.

The year-mark passed, and still Link was gone.

One day, I was working in the garden outside our home - it was a beautiful vegetable garden - and heard mother and father's voices drifting in through the window. They musn't have realized I could hear them, for they spoke in hushed tones.

"She's eighteen now. Most girls are already married by now."

"Well unless someone moves here or we move away, there will be no one for her."

"I guess I had always assumed . . ."

There was a pause as my mother's voice drifted off.

"What did you expect? The boy was destined to leave from the moment he came here. Even if he hadn't been called away then, when would it have happened? After they were married, with children? What did you expect, Isa?"

My father's voice was unnaturally harsh.

Marry Link? The thought froze me. Children? Of course it had been obvious to my parents, expected, that we would marry. We were the only children in the village close in age, and we had been such close friends . . .

"Well . . . he can't be gone forever, can he?" My mother finally replied, her voice uncertain. "This war can't last forever."

"He'll be off traveling the world, Isa. The world is full of beautiful young women, and he is the Chosen Hero. They may have even promised him to the Princess."

Though my hands were caked with dirt, I clasped them over my mouth to keep from crying out. Why hadn't that occurred to me before? Of course the Chosen Hero of Hyrule would be promised to the Princess of the kingdom. I had of course never seen her myself, but I had always heard she was very beautiful - and close to our own age.

"He may never return, and I don't know if I blame him. Why would he need to return to this tiny village, just a speck on the map, when he has an entire world to see? Hell, if he's really up against what we suspect . . . he may never have the chance to return."

"What are you saying?"

"This is a _war_, Isa. He may die."

Tears were muddying the dirt at my fingers. I hadn't cried in a year, since that day in his house. Father was right. Link was in a war. He could die. Even if he did survive, he had escaped the clutches of this god-forsaken tiny village and moved on to a bigger and better life, something more fit for a hero.

I clutched my stomach, silent sobs tightening the muscles there until it hurt, washing over me in waves. I was pitiful. I heaved, vomiting into the dirt, retching an empty stomach, coughing and sputtering until my mother finally heard me and ran outside.

"Anfe! What's happened? Are you sick?" She ushered me inside, her arms wrapped around me as I continued to dry-heave and choke.

She managed to calm me down enough so my heaving ceased, and patted my face with a damp rag in a very motherly sort of way, cooing. She sat me down at the table while she set a kettle over the fire and heated up some water to soothe my aching throat, but when her back turned I shuffled to my bedroom, curling into a ball around the faerie-doll.

"Anfe?" I heard her from the kitchen, and her soft footsteps padded down the hallway into my bedroom. I didn't cry, I just laid there with my eyes squeezed shut, clutching Link's faerie-doll. She knew I had brought it with me back from his house, and as she saw it, she sat on the edge of my bed, mouth gaping in horror as she realized what I had heard.

"Oh, sweetie . . ." was all she could say, stroking my hair, but dumbfounded herself.

I knew that I would rather become an old maid than be with anyone but Link. Somehow my mother knew this too. I didn't find out until later that my father had planned to move us closer to Ehlin, the city East, in order for me to find a partner, but my mother refused to allow it.


	6. Chapter 6

Another month passed. I knew that the best way for me to continue would be to forget about Link, but I refused to. My pendant and the doll kept his memory fresh in my mind. At night, I would sift through memories and play them like little movies in my head, and the memory of his voice would coax me to sleep. I could feel the eyes of the village upon me - the poor girl who had never moved on. The poor girl who would grow into an old maid, running her parents' business alone. They had abandoned hope in the return of our hero.

One day, a day like any other day, I was in the yard just before sunset. Mother and I had strung up our drying line and I was pinning damp laundry to the cord - the corner of mother's finest white sheet - when I heard Brecca's cry.

"LOOK!"

It didn't really concern me at first - Brecca was known for losing an occasional sheep or goat when they snuck through the gate and made a break for the hills - but something in his voice caught my attention. It was a joyful cry. I turned my head - there was a cloud of dust on the horizon, silhouetted by a glowing, golden sunset.

It was a figure atop the back of a horse.

A figure garbed in green, astride a brown-and-cream horse.

I screamed, throwing down the sheet - Mother cried out in anger, "My best sheet!" - but I didn't hear her. I was screaming and tripping over the hems of my skirt, bare feet slapping the dirt road as I pumped my legs as fast as they could go toward the edge of the village. People were jumping out of their houses at the sound of my almost deranged shrieks, then suddenly they began crying out to one another.

"It's Link!"

The figure in green leapt from his horse and ran just as hard towards me, faster, on stronger legs. I threw myself at him, leaping into his arms, even wrapping my legs around him, squeezing him as tightly as I could. I didn't care, because Link had come home. I was surprised I hadn't knocked him over, but he was stronger than before. A lot stronger. His muscled arms squeezed me just as hard, nearly crushing me, but I didn't care. I buried my head into his shoulder, my screams now just hysterical sobbing and words I didn't understand, spouts of nonsense. I think he was doing the same thing, but it all was such a blur of overwhelming emotion that I wasn't really aware of anything but the fact that Link was home.

He finally set me down, almost having to pull me off of him so he could look at my face. I almost didn't want him to see me this way, sobbing hysterically, but I realized that he was crying, too.

"Fee." he cried, his hands holding my face, tougher than I remembered.

"Link," I answered, reaching up and holding the sides of his face, unsure if he was really real. Somewhere in the back of my mind I realized that the entire village was behind me, that Link's parents were desperately waiting to hold their son. But I didn't care. Link was home.

He pulled my face in, kissing me firmly, but gently, just desperate for connection. I think we kissed for an hour before he finally drew away, smiling.

"Anfe," he said with such tenderness that I could barely believe it was real. "Anfe."

"You're home." I stated, pressing my face into his chest as the rest of the village approached. I felt his mother hug him, and his father, his siblings, even my parents, but he never really let go of me.

My parents invited him back to the shop for food, but he declined.

"As much as I would love to, I will have to decline. I have been riding for the past two days without sleep. I didn't want to spend a second delaying when I could have been that much closer to home." he explained. "I'm exhausted to my very core."

"At least let us give you something to take back to your place. I know you must be starving." Mother offered.

Mila took Epona back to their stable to care for the exhausted creature, and Link walked the dirt road back to his home. Mother insisted I help her, and I tore myself away from his side, on pins and needles as she took her sweet time layering her best meats and cheeses between two slices of herb-and-cheese bread, our most expensive kind. She wrapped it up in paper, then placed it in my bag along with a bottle of milk.

"Take it to him." she suggested, holding the bag out to me. I snatched the worn fabric bag and was already past the threshold when I remembered something else made of worn fabric, and backtracked to retrieve the doll from my room.


	7. Chapter 7

Warm light poured from the crack under Link's front door and lit his windows - he had already gotten the fireplace going.

"Link, I-"

I froze as I passed through his door - he had removed his green warrior's tunic and mail and stood by the kitchen in a soft cotton tunic. His hair was longer, his body filled out just a little more, and he had grown just a little taller.

"Oh. Sorry, Anfe." he remarked, crossing the room and taking my bag as I lifted it from my shoulders. "Thank you."

His eyes never left mine. I suppose I had changed in a year, too. I had filled out, too, but in different places. I blushed, the fire suddenly a bit too warm.

"Do you mind if I, uh, wash up first?" he asked, almost awkwardly as he gestured to the food in my bag. I nodded, breaking eye contact as I gazed down, my still-bare feet padding toward the table, suddenly very interested in unwrapping his food as he stepped into his washroom.

I expected him to talk through the curtain, but he didn't. Why didn't he? Perhaps there were too many things to be said after over a year of being apart. He had taken the adventure of a lifetime, while I stayed here in the village, crying over my loneliness while he had risked his life for the safety of us all.

For our entire lives, hardly a day had gone by when we didn't speak a thousand words to each other, and suddenly we were both rendered speechless by the enormity of things to be said.

I finally noticed the two items in the corner that seemed very out-of-place - a sword and shield. The sword had a violet hilt and a hand guard that looked like wings, emblazoned with a golden Triforce. The shield had a blue plate across its metal face, marked with an elaborate design and the crest of Hyrule. I also noticed it bore many dents and scratches. I shuddered as I imagined blades swinging down, this piece of metal the only thing between the blade and Link's body.

I had my back turned, washing my hands at the sink when I heard the rustle of curtains. He slid out from the washroom in a clean cotton tunic and leggings.

"Sorry about that." he commented, trying to appear casual. I turned and he suddenly seemed very close to me.

"I missed you, Anfe." he added, his own bare feet padding toward me. I was suddenly also aware that I looked like a complete disaster - I had been doing yardwork all day and my hair was messy, pulled back in a sloppy fashion, and my clothes were dusty and patched old work clothes.

"I . . . I missed you too, Link." I answered quietly as I realized he didn't care about how I looked. I think that made me blush even harder. "You left me without saying goodbye." I didn't know where that came from. Perhaps it was just one of those things I had kept balled up inside all this time.

Link glanced away. "I know. After . . . after that last night, I almost couldn't bear to leave." he explained, "Seeing you again would have made it that much harder."

"Why did you kiss me that night, Link?"

He turned his head back toward me. He had grown taller, but I had as well, and I wasn't much shorter than him now. "Because I . . ." he began, then took a step toward me.

"I always really liked you, Fee. As more than just a friend. I never told you because I was afraid you didn't feel the same way, and I didn't want to hurt our friendship.

"I've had a lot of time to think, before I left and then afterwards. I guess . . . it was because I love you, Fee."

His hand reached out and brushed my cheek, his face flushed but smiling.

"Do you remember the day I cut your hair?" I whispered, and he chuckled softly, nodding.

"I was ecstatic, because you were touching my hair. I was giddy." he answered, touching my own hair.

"I realized that day that I liked you more than just a friend," I confessed, "and . . . I love you too."

"Marry me, Anfe."

I jerked my head up at him, jaw slack.

"What?"

"You heard me." he said, his voice shaking through his casual facade. "Marry me. While I was out there fighting, knowing death could find me at any second, I realized that life was too precious. I vowed that, if I returned, I would spend it with the person I cared for most in this world.

Be my wife, Fee."

"But - but Father said - you - the princess -"

"They asked me to be with her, yes." he said, and my heart froze. "But I told them that I already loved a girl back home. Anfe."

I clasped my hands over my mouth, eyes tearing up again. Link laughed.

"Don't cry," he said, "but is that a yes?"

I nodded furiously, burying my face into the soft cotton of his tunic. It smelled like him. Link smelled nice.

Link was going to be my husband.

He lifted me up with his strong arms, setting me up on the sink counter so we were at eye level, but his eyes were closed as he took my face in his hands and tenderly took my lower lip between his like he had that night. My hands rested on his chest, broader than it had been before he left, and I kissed him back, warm little tears running down my cheeks. I could feel Link smiling against my lips. "I told you not to cry," he whispered between kisses as he found my jawline. Oh. That felt nice. My fingers tugged at the hem of his tunic, and he looked up, eyes meeting mine, questioning blue-green eyes. He took me into his arms and lifted me up, up the stairs, lying me down against the soft mattress of his bed.

"I came here once after you left," I whispered as he laid beside me, "I found your faerie-doll, the one I made for you."

"I slept with it every night." he answered.

"I laid here and cried for what felt like hours-"

His finger touched my lips. "Don't talk of sadness. I'm here, I'm home, and you're with me. We're going to be married."

His body was warm and strong, and we both knew where we belonged.


End file.
